Soft-drinks maker Britvic reported flat profits because of the cost of restructuring its struggling Irish business, where it announced 145 jobs would go earlier this year.

In the first half, pre-tax profit was £7.2m compared with £7.1m the previous year, after £12.8m of costs linked to shrinking the Irish business. Excluding those costs, pre-tax profit climbed 16pc to £20m.

Sales rose 6.3pc to £483.2m, as Britvic increased its market share in the UK with brands including Robinsons squash and Pepsi.

In Ireland, where the collapse of the property and banking bubble has led to a deep recession and tax increases, Britvic's sales were hard hit in pubs and corner shops. The company bought the soft drinks business of Magners' cider maker C&C in 2007, to add Ballygowan water to its portfolio of drinks in the country.

Britivc said in January it would "restructure and right-size" its Irish business, with the loss of up to 145 jobs.

The company said it had seen "strong" sales growth in the UK since the start of its second half in mid-April and expects to meet full-year earnings forecasts. Analysts expect revenue of £948m and pretax profit of £74.9m for the year.

Britvic increased its dividend 7.9pc to 4.1p a share for the first half.